I'm Sorry
by krzed
Summary: A Femslash February exploration into Chloenette.
1. Why?

For breeeliss!

Femslash February 2/3: Rescue: After saving Chloe (again), Ladybug finally finds out why she keeps causing akumas.

* * *

"I can't believe you! This is the fifth Akuma this week, and it isn't even Thursday! What were you thinking?"

At least, that's what Ladybug would have said, if the look on Chloe's face hadn't frozen the words in her mouth. The heiress had done something to anger another Parisian, what Ladybug didn't know (and frankly she didn't want to know what Chloé could have done to inspire a cheese-themed villain). After digging Chloé out of a mountain of Gouda and swinging her to safety, one Lucky Charm was all it took to make Paris safe again.

Ladybug then swung up to Le Grand Paris, intent on telling Chloé where she could shove her attitude, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Chloé looked hurt, timid, completely unlike her usually sassy self. Her eyes trailed along the railing of her balcony, her shoes kicked at the tiles beneath her. It was as though she expected the scolding, she expected Ladybug to verbally tear her apart and had prepared herself for it. So, imagine her surprise when, instead of a tongue-lashing, Ladybug instead asked:

"Why?"

Chloé looked up at Ladybug. "What?"

"I know you don't want to turn people into Akumas, so why? Why do you do it?"

Chloé opened her mouth to answer, but snapped it shut and crossed her arms, her cheeks reddening. "It's not my fault people can't handle my attitude."

"But you know they can't." Ladybug took a step closer and rested her glove on Chloé's shoulder. "You claim we're friends, yet all you do is make more work for me, so why?"

She didn't answer immediately. She dropped her eyes back to her feet and whispered, "Because...this is the only way I get to see you."

Ladybug recoiled. Was that all Chloé wanted? To see her? To spend time with her?

"Chloé, I don't have time to–"

"I'm sorry," she said. No, _sobbed_.

Had Ladybug heard her right? Had Chloé Bourgeois... _apologized?_ Not only that, but she was crying?

"I'm sorry I cause so much trouble for you. I'm sorry I'm such a terrible person, but this...causing Akumas and having them chase me is the only way I can see you. And every time you rescue me, I tell myself: this is it. This is when I tell her."

Ladybug leaned over to find Chloé's gaze. "Tell me...what?"

They stood in silence for a few seconds until Chloé's hand found Ladybug's cheek, and her lips found the heroine's. It was a chaste kiss, just a light flutter of Chloé's lips on her own. It broke just as quickly as it had begun. "Tell you that I...I..." Tears welled up in Chloe's eyes, the words she wanted to say danced on her tongue, but in the end she turned away, strode over to the doors to her bedroom, and threw them open.

"I'll stop. I'll stop getting people akumatized. You...won't have to rescue me anymore." Ladybug reached out a hand, but the doors had already shut between them. A rapid beep from her earrings cut off any chance of speaking to Chloé further.

When Marinette dropped into her own bedroom not two minutes later, she sat on her bed in silence for nearly another five. Not even Tikki could get her to speak, so the kwami resigned herself to finding her own cookies. Marinette's trembling fingers soon found their way to her lips. Chloé had kissed her. Chloé had stolen her first kiss. Okay, technically Chat was her first kiss, but that was just to save him from Dark Cupid and he wasn't even aware of it. And Marinette hadn't felt anything when she kissed Chat, but when Chloé kissed her...

She tried to ignore it. She tried to ignore how her heart fluttered through the rest of her day. She tried to ignore how, in her dreams, the blonde she held hands with as they walked along the Seine had blue eyes instead of green. She tried to ignore how the murmur in her heart intensified when she saw Chloé in class the next day. But when she greeted Adrien the next morning without stuttering and realized she hadn't spared him a single thought since her encounter with Chloé, she couldn't ignore it anymore.

Marinette was...in love with Chloé.


	2. Suit Up

Femslash February 2/4: Matching outfits: Ladybug checks up on a distraught fan after coming to terms with her emotions.

* * *

Marinette was in love with Chloé.

No matter how many times she repeated the sentence, her head refused to accept it and her heart refused to deny it. She loved Adrien, right? But then again, all she'd done was obsess over him without really getting to know him. She had known Chloé for years, but she hated her, right?

When Chloé had kissed her, it forced her to rethink everything she knew about her and also reawakened memories of a time when Chloé wasn't so cruel, so cold. The change wasn't immediate, but all Marinette could remember was this little blonde girl sticking chewing gum in her hair years ago, and she'd never forgiven her. Some quick research aided by Alya told Marinette everything she needed to know: a mother who died young and a father who was never there. She was acting out because she was lonely. She just wanted attention.

A few questions to Adrien confirmed that Chloé was almost as big a comic book fiend as Alya, if not more so, and had always wanted to either be a superhero or befriend one. Her favorite characters included Black Widow, Ms. Marvel (both Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan in recent years), Wonder Woman. She'd never shown any interest in male characters, and Marinette was pretty sure she knew why.

Chloé was gay, but didn't know how to express it.

Just...just like Marinette.

How long had Marinette ignored just how scared and vulnerable Chloé was? Her cold demeanor was just a front to keep people at a distance, her obsession with material possessions an effort to distract her from just how lonely she was. So when Ladybug entered the scene and protected Chloé, gave her the attention she craved, and was a beautiful female superhero, Chloé couldn't help but become obsessed, perhaps even enamored.

Marinette should hate her. She should hate Chloé for all the misery she put her through, but now...she can't. She can't bring herself to gate Chloé. In fact, all she wants to do is help her, reach out to her, show her that she isn't alone and that she does have someone willing to love her. Unfortunately, Marinette can't do that because Chloé still hates her.

But Ladybug...

Chloé sat on her bed, her Ladybug suit in her hands, rubbing at the thin material with her thumbs. It was obvious she'd been crying, probably because she was convinced Ladybug hated her. But that decidedly was not the case, not when the heroine herself had pulled herself out of bed and swing out to check up on her. Ladybug sat perched on a rooftop across from Le Grand Paris with her yoyo in hand, zoomed in on her former nemesis. It made Ladybug's heart hitch to see Chloé like this, a sensation that would have felt foreign and unwelcome just a few days ago. She had to do something, but what?

...well, the answer was obvious. She had a fan to cheer up.

Chloé's head snapped up when she heard something drop onto her balcony. It was too dark to see who it was, but there were only so many people it could be, especially at this time of night. She wiped her tears away with her sleeve because there was no way she would let her hero see her crying, then stuffed her Ladybug suit under her blankets and walked over to let the heroine in.

"If there's another Akuma, I swear it wasn't–"

Ladybug held up a hand. "There's no Akuma. And I believe you. I've...noticed you reigning in your attitude, and I appreciate it. I actually wanted to...apologize. I shouldn't have blown up on you. I shouldn't have–"

"No, I deserved it." Ladybug would have found Chloé's response out of character if she hadn't seen the girl trying to change firsthand. Chloe's shoulders slumped and she crossed her arms, pulled in on herself. "You're right. All I've ever done is cause you trouble, make doing your job harder. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and then I made it even worse by kissing you, and..."

"Chloe," Ladybug settled a soothing hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. I know you're sorry and I see you sincerely want to change. And as for the kiss..."

This kiss was little more than Ladybug settling her lips on Chloé's, but the message was clear: I want this. I want more of this. I want you. And Chloé was more than happy to reciprocate. However, just as she began to settle her hands on Ladybug's hips, the heroine pulled away and strode into Chloé's room.

"Uh, where, what are you doing?"

Ladybug pulled back the blankets on the girl's bed, picked up the spotted suit, and tossed it to Chloé. "Suit up," she said. "I'm gonna take you to my favorite spot in all of Paris."

The smile on Chloé's face brightened Ladybug's day. She immediately threw of her coat and began to pull her shirt over her head. Despite whatever feelings she may have developed for Chloé, Ladybug still had some sense of decency. She turned her back and waited for Chloé to finish pulling her costume on. At the sound of a zipper being pulled up, Ladybug turned back around and opened her mouth to ask if she was ready to go, but paused when she saw what lay at Chloé's feet among her other clothes: a yellow pair of panties and a matching bra.

Ladybug's face reddened the same shade as her suit. "You, uh...you're not wearing...underwear?"

Chloé smoothed out the wrinkles in her suit at set about affixing her mask with a bottle of spirit gum. "I never wear underwear with this suit; it's horrible for showing panty lines, and if I'm going on a date with Ladybug, I'll be damned if I..." She paused, her own face running red. "Oh, um, I didn't mean to assume this was a date."

"N-no! It's fine! It, uh, kinda i-is." She glanced back down to the underwear, her entire body warming at the thought of how many times she had seen Chloé in her Ladybug suit.

Hoo, time to get a hold of yourself, Marinette.

"Ready!" Chloé planted her fists on her hips, looking exactly like Ladybug save for her hair. Ladybug nodded and took Chloé's hand, pulling her outside onto the balcony. Chloé threw her arms around Ladybug's neck and the spotted hero wrapped her arm around Chloé's waist before casting out her yoyo and pulling the pair off into the distance.


	3. Stargazing

Femslash February 2/5: Stars: Chloe and Ladybug spend some alone time atop the Eiffel Tower.

* * *

"I've never been up here like this."

Chloé lay on her back, her hands folded over her stomach, gazing up at the stars from atop the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug lay beside her, her hands behind her head. It took all of her strength to keep her focus on the sky and not on how the lights above danced in Chloé's eyes. It had only been a few short days, but something in her heart had completely shifted. She still remembered looking at Adrien the same was she looked at Chloé now, but it seemed so far away.

"I'm glad you like it."

"I love it," Chloé grinned over at Ladybug, but when their eyes met, Chloé turned away and grimaced. Ladybug could sense it. She was still hesitant, still apprehensive about giving a voice to her feelings. Yes, they'd kissed, twice now, but that was just a kiss. Actually speaking those three little words was an entirely different matter.

"You, um...you'd think coming up here as often as Chat and I do, it'd get old after a while. But," she hummed, "it never really does. Something about being above the city, about the silence, the solitude, there's just something about it that–"

"I," Chloé started. Ladybug turned her head and saw a hint of sorrow in her eyes. "I don't think I'd like it if I were alone up here." She attempted to put on a smile, but her lips couldn't hold it up. "Yeah, it's beautiful, but...my room feels like this. Quiet, lonely...I...I like it better when there's someone's with me. When..." This time when she met Ladybug's gaze, she didn't break the contact. "When you're with me."

The stars disappeared. The lights above and below them ceased to matter. The only lights that existed to either of them were those of a bluebell sky and an azure sea making the earth tremble around them. Chloé pushed herself up on her elbows and leaned over. Ladybug didn't shy away, didn't recoil as she would have as response to Chloé's affection. In fact, she turned her head to allow Chloé easier access to her lips. She desperately wanted those lips on her again, and was honestly shocked when Chloé was the one who pulled away. She sat all the way up ad hugged her stomach.

"I'm sorry," she choked. "I'm sorry, Ladybug, but I...I know what I feel, but I..."

"Chloé..." Ladybug sat up and put a hand on Chloé's shoulder. Her face fell when the blonde jerked away from her touch.

"Why do you even bother with me?"

"Chloe." Ladybug spoke with a bit more firmness. Their eyes met again, both of them filling with tears. "I bother with you because I know you're lonely, and the thought of you being alone...it breaks my heart, especially knowing there's something I can do about it."

The heiress sniffed, starlight glittered off of the line of tears flowing down her mask. "So you pity me."

"So what if I do? People throw 'pity' around like a dirty four-letter word, but that's not what it is. You're sad, you're miserable and that hurts me." Ladybug shrugged. "Up until a few days ago, I thought I would never feel this way about a girl, or...honestly...about you, but..." She leaned in closer and settled her hands on Chloé's shoulder, tightening her grip so she couldn't pull away. "I don't know if this is love, maybe it is, but all I know is I want to make you happy, because despite everything you've ever done, you deserve this chance at happiness."

Chloé sniffed again and wiped away a few of her tears. "Do you mean that?"

Ladybug nodded. "As much as I mean this."

To Chloé, the stars above exploded when Ladybug kissed her again. She melted, her arms flowing around the heroine's waist and their lips gliding across each other. Now expecting the kiss, Chloé could pick up on subtle things she missed: her strawberry lipgloss, the scent of cinnamon and fresh-baked bread. She raised her hands and slipped her fingers through Ladybug's hair, careful not to pull out her pigtails, and the heroine's subsequent moan ignited her heart. In this moment she felt happier, more complete than she ever had in her life.

She pulled away and made sure she looked directly at Ladybug, the stars in the sky reflecting off the ocean in her eyes. Somehow, seeing her long-time hero at a loss for words and somewhat out of breath because of her gave her the courage to finally make her confession.

"I love you." She lifted a hand to Ladybug's face and stroked a thumb across the seam between her skin and her mask. "Whoever you are under this, Ladybug...I love you."

"Chloe, I...I lo–"

The heavy clink of metal on metal preceded Chloé's widening gaze, her focus on something behind her. Ladybug prepared herself for an Akuma, prepared herself for the worst, but nothing could prepare her to face...Chat Noir. The look on his face was...unreadable. Sad, disappointed, crushed, angry, too many emotions melded together to give it a single label. His glowing eyes darted between Ladybug and Chloé, then screwed shut and opened, as though he were attempting to awaken himself from a horrible dream. When he realized it wasn't working, his shoulders fell and his grip on his baton tightened.

"Well," he started, his voice cracking. "I guess this explains why you never returned my affections my La...Ladybug."

"Chat..."

"Look," he held up a hand to stop her, "I...I want you to be happy, even if it means you're not with me. And I also support your...lifestyle, I guess. I just..." he turned his back on the girls and sighed. "I wish I hadn't found out like this." He disappeared into the night before Ladybug could get out another word.


	4. A New Hairdo

So yeah. The fic title says it all. Between my laptop dying on me and real life happening without my permission, it took me a while to get around to writing this. And I know 'new haircut' isn't the femslash prompt for today, or yesterday or even a week ago, but this is how I planned out this fic when I started, so this is how it is.

* * *

Marinette stared at her reflection, her hand teased beneath the singed locks hanging from the right side of her head, and as she did, her mind wandered to the nightmarish Akuma fight the previous day.

The blur of a white suit and the glare of violet eyes.

" _You're precious kitten is gone, 'my Lady'. Chat Blanc is all that remains."_

The screams of rage and pain.

" _I'll destroy all of Paris! The city of love? More like city of lies and heartbreak!"_

The brimstone stench of a hate-fueled Cataclysm that would have decayed her face, but only devoured one of her pigtails, all because...

" _Ladybug! Look out!"_

Chat had apologized profusely afterward, assuring Ladybug he wasn't one of those 'dude-bros' as he called them who felt he was entitled to her. He confessed he was just lonely, and finding out the supposed love of his life was gay rattled him and made him feel like the bad luck in his ring was taking over his life. Like no one would ever live him. So when Hawkmoth offered to take his bad luck away from him...

Marinette sighed and blew her bangs out of her eyes. It hurt her to fight her partner like that, but it hurt even more when she couldn't find Chloé until well after the fight. She worried Chat Blanc had done something horrible to her, that she was hurt, or worse... But when she spotted Chloé on her balcony after the fight, her heart settled and she raced home before she could detransform. With that crisis out of the way, Marinette could turn her rage towards her own powers for not fixing her hair along with everything else Chat Blanc had destroyed. But what could she do other than try to fix it herself? And so, with a pair of scissors in hand, she proceeded to trim off the burnt tips.

Now, all she could hope for now was for her classmates to believe the lame excuse she had come up with for missing one of her pigtails: an accident with fabric adhesive that resulted in her just clipping the pigtail off. Luckily, Alya was nowhere to be found during the fight, so there was no Ladyblog footage of Ladybug losing a pigtail. The only ones who knew Ladybug's hairstyle had changed were Ladybug herself, Chat, and...

Queen Bee.

Marinette had no idea where she had come from. All she knew was about an hour into her fight with Chat Blanc, a streak of black and gold dropped from the sky and drove her heel into Chat's back. The blue-eyed blonde introduced herself as Ladybug's biggest fan, and mentioned that Master Fu had given her a Miraculous shortly after Chat had become akumatized. Just knowing Master Fu's name confirmed that she was telling the truth. So the women fought side by side against the fallen hero, and it had been Queen Bee who pulled Ladybug out of the Cataclysm's path.

Somehow, fighting with Queen Bee was almost like fighting with Chat. There was some underlying connection between them, some unspoken bond that allowed them to communicate wordlessly. Marinete had to admit, she was almost sad when Bee had to leave before the fight was over, but she had used her power and the insistent beeps from the comb in her hair forced her to fly away. It was odd, though. Before she left, Ladybug swore Bee threw her a smile and blew her a kiss. And she'd liked it.

Blondes with blue eyes and dazzling smiles?

Marinette had a type.

She threw her school bag over her shoulder and sighed again. Well, she couldn't put her school day off forever. On a whim, she pulled her remaining pigtail from its ties and let her hair fall against her shoulder. She turned in her mirror and decided she rather liked the look. She also hoped Chloé would like it when Ladybug went to visit her tonight.

She met Alya first just outside the school. Having a front row seat to Marinette's legendary clumsiness meant she instantly bought the lie about the adhesive. Nino believed it as well, though Adrien seemed to linger on her hair longer than the others. He ultimately accepted her story and the four friends walked inside. It wasn't until the classroom was in sight that Marinette considered something she hadn't earlier: Chloé.

Every time she got a haircut, Chloé had some snide remark about it. From when she had a bob, to the bun she had last year, then her pigtails for the past few months, Chloé had to butt in with her opinion. Hell, when she'd gone through her pixie cut phase, Chloé had straight up called her a dyke.

...well, she wasn't wrong...

When Marinette walked inside, Chloé turned from her conversation with Sabrina to throw a dirty glance at her rival, but stopped when she spotted the new hair style. Here it comes. What will it be this time? Fight with a lawnmower? Cat cough up a furball on your head? (well, a cat _was_ involved) But nothing. Chloé didn't say a word, however much it appeared as though she wanted to. She just quietly scrutinized Marinette's hair as though trying to remember where she had seen that hairstyle before.

Marinette ignored Chloé throughout class, ignored her when the class dismissed for lunch, and ignored her when she made lunch plans with Alya. But when she had to run back to her locker to grab a book, she couldn't ignore Chloé when the blonde snuck up behind her, grabbed her by the jacket, and pinned her to the lockers, her eyes focused on where her pigtail once was.

"Chloé? What is your problem?"

Chloé didn't answer. Her fingertips threaded through Marinette's shortened hair, her gaze moved from her hair to her earrings.

"...Ladybug."

Marinette's blood ran cold. "Uh, I–I'm...sorry?" she feigned ignorance.

Something in her stutter betrayed her anxiety. Chloé fixed her with a look that was equal parts sadness, disappointment, anger and betrayal, a look similar to what Chat Noir had given her before he was akumatized. "Y- _you_. You're...you're Ladybug."


	5. Bees in the Evening

I know February is over, but I had to finish this.

* * *

And Chloé was back to hating her.

Well, maybe hate was a strong word. They were civil-ish with each other; Chloé had stopped insulting and bullying Marinette, but after Chloé somehow found out Marinette was Ladybug, things just...weren't the same. Chloe would barely look at her, she stopped singing Ladybug's praises in class, and every time Marinette tried to apologize or explain herself, Chloé would either shut her down with a glare or ignore her.

Okay, so maybe hate was the perfect word.

Not even a visit from Ladybug would cheer her up. It probably didn't matter, since she knew Ladybug and Marinette were the same person. Chloé would only draw the blinds on her windows, turn up her music, and turn her back on the heroine.

 _Whoever you are under this, Ladybug...I love you._

...bullshit.

The strange part was during the next patrol, when Ladybug intended to official introduce Chat to Queen Bee. First, Chat had also learned her identity, but would not tell her how, just that her secret was safe with him and that they would remain friends if nothing else. Second, Bee wasn't the same as when the first met fighting Chat Blanc. She was cold, distant, and refused to look Ladybug in the eye. She didn't seem too pleased to be working with Ladybug, but she kept to their patrol schedules and helped during Akuma attacks. Not much beyond that. She wouldn't speak to anyone if she didn't have to and didn't want to stay out late after joint patrol to hang out.

A few weeks of this and life seemed to settle into a new normal: Chat stopped flirting, Chloé stopped bullying, and Marinette stopped hoping Chloé would ever come around.

Marinette hated the new normal.

"We're going to bed now! Goodnight Marinette!"

"Goodnight Maman, goodnight Papa!" Marinette called down the stairs.

She turned back to her math homework, sighed, and stretched her arms over her head. Her eyes trailed up to the trapdoor above her bed and she decided to go out for a run. It wasn't her night to patrol, but she couldn't bring herself to stay inside. It was a beautiful night and she needed something to take her mind off recent events. So, she left her homework to be finished another time, most likely in the few minutes before class, and ascended the ladder to her bed.

She threw open the door and muttered, "Tikki, Spots O–" but stopped when her eyes met possibly the most perfect ass she ever seen. Round, tight, covered in yellow spandex _wait a minute_...

"Damn it to hell, why am I doing this?" Queen Bee grunted under her breath. She was leaning forward with her hands braced oon the railing, her back turned to the door. Thankfully, she hadn't heard Marinette's door open or the transformation phrase (thank goodness). "There's no way she wants to talk to me after–"

"Um," Marinette started. Bee whirled around, her face reddening. "You're, uh, Queen Bee, right?" Marinette put on a small smile and stepped outside fully. "It's a p-pleasure to finally meet you! I've seen you on the Ladyblog and you–"

"You don't have to play dumb," Queen Bee interrupted. She dropped her head and shut her eyes. "L-Ladybug."

Marinette's first thought should have been how Queen Bee had discovered her identity. Instead, it was ' _Dammit, that makes, what, three now? I'm the worst superhero ever.'_

She crossed her arms and dropped her smile. "So, you know who I am." Queen Bee nodded. "If I may ask, what brings you to my balcony?"

Bee shifted in her boots and wrung her hands together. "I...I've wanted to talk to you for a while, but I just...never found the right time to do it."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "During patrol was too inconvenient for you?"

"I'm sorry!" Bee stomped, her fists tightening at her sides. "Ladybug's a little intimidating!"

She snorted. "And I'm not?"

Bee pouted. "Could you just let me say this, please?" Marinette shrugged and gestured for her to continue. Bee bit her lip and sighed. "I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I pushed you away, sorry I was so cold and distant. When I found out _you_ were Ladybug, I...I didn't know what to think."

"How _did_ you find out?"

"Your hair," Bee shrugged, pointing to the right side of Marinette's head. "I remember Chat Blanc burning off your pigtail, and when I saw you the next day with your hair shorter on that side..."

Marinette squinted. When had Queen Bee seen her that day? Did they know each other as civilians? Blonde hair, blue eyes...something in Marinette's mind told her she knew who Bee was, the name danced on her tongue, but some magical effect of her Miraculous was keeping that name right where it was.

Bee wrapped her arms around her midriff and hunched her shoulders. "I adored Ladybug, but Marinette? I couldn't stand her. I hated her... _your_ guts. Finding out you were the same person...it was too much for me."

 _'Blonde, blue eyes, hates me?'_ Marinette almost had a face to go with the name. She felt like all she needed was a single piece of the puzzle and everything else would fall into place.

"I let my hatred get in the way of my feelings. But pushing you away only made me lonelier, angrier, and I hated it. I hated feeling that way, and I knew the only way to feel better was to face this. It's taken me weeks to sort through my thoughts, my emotions, and...I know now that I don't hate you anymore. In fact..." A blush framed Bee's slowly growing smile. "I...I love you."

Marinette's eyes widened as Bee took a step forward and rested her gloved palm against her cheek. "You're everything I want to be as a hero, and as a human being. You're kind, considerate, selfless. You've always made friends easier than me, and I was jealous for the longest time. But not anymore, and that's why I'm here. I'm so sorry I broke my promise to you. I swore I'd love whoever was behind your mask, and now, I can say I do."

If the pieces hadn't fallen into place when they did, if the name on Marinette's tongue and the face in her mind hadn't made themselves known, she would have had a problem with Queen Bee kissing her. But, considering she knew exactly who was kissing her, she didn't care. The only thing stopping her from truly enjoying the kiss was the shock of the revelation.

Bee pulled away and smiled wider. "I love you, Marinette."

"Ch-Ch...Chloé?"

Chloé's smile faltered. "This...isn't a problem, is it?"

"No no no!" Marinette settled a hand on Chloé's shoulder. "This is...just a lot to take in! It's..." She pulled away and looked the girl up and down. "Why did you come transformed?"

"I needed a little...confidence booster so I could talk to you." She fidgeted in her boots and looked away. "It's only sort of working."

"And revealing your identity?"

"I know yours," she shrugged. "It only seemed fair."

Marinette couldn't think of what to say, and she could tell Bee – _Chloé, she had to remind herself –_ wasn't taking to well to the silence. She'd just confessed, again, and Marinette wasn't responding, _again_. Her smile was all but gone, her eyes downturned and defeated, a faint sparkle of tears at their corners. It hurt Marinette to see her this way, and it was that pain that reminded her of her own feelings.

She slipped her fingers beneath Chloé's chin and lifted her head until their eyes met. "Do you mean that? Bee...Chloé, do you really mean that? Do you love me?"

Chloé sniffed and nodded. "I do. I do because you're still you, with or without the mask. And," she turned her head away, "I just hope you can love _me_ after–"

Marinette smiled and gently pulled the girl's face back to look her in the eye. "I do, Chloé. I know I got interrupted the first time I tried to say this, but...I love you." She curled her fingers and pulled Chloé's lips into her own.

Warmth blossomed in Marinette's heart and sparks in her stomach. She missed this. She missed being with Chloé, as strange as that would have sounded a month ago. Spandex clad arms wrapped around her shoulders and Chloé pulled tighter, deepening the kiss and bringing them as close together as they could be. Marinette rested her own arms around Chloé's waist and let herself revel in these new sensations. Her lips were softer, smoother than Chat Noir's. They tasted of...honey. Marinette smiled into Chloé's lips. Honey. How appropriate for a bee.

They broke apart, their eyes met, but the fire and sparks didn't settle. They stood, smiling at each other, their cheeks warm against the cool evening wind.

"So, uh," Chloé stammered, "I should...probably be going." She tilted her head over her shoulder. "It's my night to patrol, so..."

"We can go together."

Chloé stared wide-eyed at her. "Y-you don't have to if you–"

"I was gonna go out for a run anyways." Marinette blushed harder. "I actually wanted to get my mind off of...well...losing you."

Chloé smiled again. "You don't have to worry about that anymore, Marinette."

"Yeah, now all we have to worry about is explaining to everyone how we went from mortal enemies to girlfriends."

"And explaining to the city how Ladybee has replaced Ladyn..." Chloé paused. "G-girlfriends?"

Marinette shrugged. "That's what we are now, right?"

It took a few seconds for Chloé to answer, but before she did, she leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Marinette's cheek. "I'd like that. Now," she hopped up on the railing and turned back to her girlfriend (her heart fluttered at the thought). "Are we gonna patrol or what?"

Marinette smiled, ready to start anew with the girl she loved. "Tikki, Spots On!"


End file.
